We’ll be back with more Shrinky Dink Test lab tomorrow–the experiments continue–, but today is your special Holiday edition!

For the 4th of July, my husband and best friend were running the Peachtree Road Race, so I decided to have brunch at my house and invite over friends for mimosas and food. Since we were doing mimosas (champagne and OJ for the uninitiated), i figured everyone would be drinking out of stemmed glasses and they’d get mixed up, so what about making some fun, temporary glass markers using shrinky dinks. I made up 6 the night before on a whim, and they were quite loved by all, but the funny part was that the morning turned into a shrinky dink party as everyone wanted to try and make their own (both more glass markers, and other fun stuff).

So, here’s the skinny on the so cool glass markers:

These are definitely temporary/disposable, as the only way to remove them is to break them off. But they were quick and easy, and would be great for a party, shower, or something like that. You could do them all personalized with people’s names, even.

Basically, you follow the basic shrinky dinks from #6 Plastic containers (like to-go boxes) from Parts 1& 2. Do a long thin strip (about 3/4 in wide), write whatever word (or whatever) you want on one side, then color in on the back as you like. For this I did some 4th of July themed, like “Liberty” above, and some more silly (like a gay flag with Tipsy in the center for a particular friend). Shrink as directed, but as soon as it’s done (while it’s still ‘burn your fingers’ hot) take it out and quickly wrap it around the stem of a stemmed glass before it cools. (you should probably wear gloves for this, but i didn’t, i just did it quick.)

For brunch, everyone thought they were so cool they wanted to get into the action, so they were all taking the scraps i had left and making their own. A shrinky dinks party would be a pretty cool party in itself!

I love these!…and thanks for leaving a comment on my blog!! Come back and visit again!!!

Lisa M Griffin [07/06/2008 at 8:54 pm ]
:

I LOVE shrinky dinks and used to create them all the time as a kid. They are getting harder and harder to find nowadays. Fun party idea!!!

Sor Cyress [07/07/2008 at 5:50 am ]
:

So, my mom is a HUGE fan of shrinky-dinks, and uses them to make her girl scout swaps every year at day camp. (Little things to trade). So we often have them lying around the house in varying states of made.

I really like the colouring in on the back idea, I’ll pass that on to her. My personal reccomendation is to find a cheap spatula at a thrift store or something, and use it to flatten the shrinky dinks at the end of shrinking –less chance of burning your hands. Probably shouldn’t also be used for food prep though.